Transcript: Tank Carder Conference Call

I’m excited. When I went up there I had a good feeling. I loved everything (they) had, the facilities and everything were real low-key, it wasn’t anything too fancy and that was the best part I liked about it. Not a lot of flash and I love that. I’m ready to come there and do my part and help out the team the best I can.

On if he was thinking the Bills would take him:

I knew ya’ll were in the running for sure. Ya’ll had me out there on a visit and I felt like the meeting with all the coaches, I had a good feeling. It was definitely a great feeling when I got the call and appreciate everything, you putting me on your team.

On what his strengths are:

I would say my strengths are probably my agility and my lateral movement side to side. I feel like I’ve got pretty good instincts, I take good angles to the ball. I’m tough, I’ve had three surgeries and I haven’t missed any games. Those are probably my strengths, as far as weaknesses I definitely need to work on taking on blockers and shedding blockers. At TCU we never really worked on that. With a little bit of coaching I feel like I could be pretty good at it. We were always taught to dip our shoulder and get in the gap, we were all just single-gap control.

On his shoulders which he has injured before:

They are 100%. They’re the best they have ever felt. There is no problem with my shoulders at all right now. I’ve got full flexibility in both of them. Both of my shoulders are 100% ready to go.

On if he ever thought he could make it to the NFL:

Even when I got picked up to play college football, it was really like just going on to the next level to play college football and it wasn’t really until my first year to start, when I played against Utah in 2009 I got a pick-six. After that I saw myself on ESPN for the first time and that was kind of when it clicked that I could maybe play at the next level. Up until that point it was just football. It’s still just football, but as far as going on to the next level, it never really clicked until 2009 which was my first year to start.

On who called him and what the call was like finding out he was selected by the Bills:

Coach, he called me. He asked me if I wanted to be a Bill and said get ready to come up there and play some football. I was excited as could be, man. I couldn’t even hold my emotions in, it was the most awesome experience I have ever been a part of to this point.

On if what he has been through in his life flashed through his mind when he got the call:

No. I kind of live life in the moment, I don’t really dwell on the past. I feel like everything I have done up to this point has got me here, but I can’t say things in the past have got me here and changed different things. All I can do is just worry about the now and plan for the future. I’m just excited to be at the point I’m at right now and make the best of every opportunity. I’m excited to come up there and show ya’ll what I can do.

On his instincts on the field:

I feel like my instincts kind of help me out a lot. I feel like I’ve got a nose for the ball. In the East-West game I feel like I didn’t finish some of the plays that I could have, but I was there. I was moving around, I was always around the ball, I feel like I played like that all through college and I feel like my instincts kind of help me out a lot. I’m not slow, but I feel like my instincts have helped me out a lot.

On how many years TCU had the No. 1 defense in the country:

It was three. We were in 2008, and that was when Jason Phillips started in front of me, and then 2009 and 2010 we were No. 1. It was three years in a row, two of my starting years.

On if being the No. 1 defense in the country was his best accomplishment in college:

Definitely. It was definitely a great accomplishment looking back to it, but we never really dwelled on stats. We always looked at a win or a loss. We never dwelled on personal stats or team stats, we always looked at if we were on the right side or the left side of the column. That was what we always looked at. As long as we were winning, we knew if you were winning, you got good stats. Make sure we win, then look at stats next.

On his play in the Rose Bowl:

Oh yeah. The way I’ve seen it, I had flash plays in the Rose Bowl. If you watched the film, there was a lot of times in the Rose Bowl that I got hung up in run blocking and things like that, but there were those flash plays that kind of made me stand out. As far as the knock-down pass, I feel like anybody could have made that play. I was just in the right place at the right time. It wasn’t an overly athletic play, just right place at the right time. I feel like that plays back to my instincts. I went on a blitz and the line slid to our blitz side. I knew there was probably really no way I was getting through so I stepped back and whenever I stepped back there was an open receiver right behind me and I jumped up and swatted it down.

On where he got his name Tank from:

I was 18-months old whenever I first got it. It was a family friend that started calling me Tank and I started responding to it. I was about 33 lbs. when I was 18 months old.

On if he ever met TCU alum Aaron Schobel:

No. I don’t know if it was Aaron or Bo, it might have been Bo or Aaron that I met at TCU, I’m not sure which one it was, but they were out one night when I was a freshman and I’ve seen them around campus. I didn’t really talk to them, I just kind of said hello but I didn’t really get to meet him. I don’t think I’ve really formally met him.

On what his given name is:

Ricky. My dad is Ricky too, so I’ve never been Ricky. My dad is Ricky, I’m a junior and I’ve always been Tank so that’s kind of my name since, like I said, as long as I can remember. I couldn’t even talk before my name was Tank.